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Tony Khan media scrum: Regal gone, personal issues, ROH TV, Rampage ratings

6K views 98 replies 38 participants last post by  3venflow 
#1 · (Edited)
Notes from PWInsider:

On the status of William Regal, Khan said that going back a few months, it's been crazy. Going back to All Out, a lot of things happened. The next few weeks were a really important time for the company and it was all hands on deck. They had to overhaul a lot of things and Khan was happy with the success they had. He noted that leading into Grandslam, his mother had a stroke and it was a really stressful time for his family while a lot of things needed to be done with AEW. The Mayo Clinic couldn't figure out why she had the stroke and released her. They kept going forward at AEW. A few weeks later, she had a second stroke around his 40th birthday.

That same night, he got a call that William Regal had approached Megha, AEW's head of legal. Regal's son works for another wrestling promotion and asked that when his option to renew for another year came up, that AEW does not do that. He said it was a complex situation for AEW because of his role on-screen but Regal in his golden years, wanted to go to coach and work with people he was friends with. After his mom's second stroke, they found a spot on his mother's heart and if they could remove the spot, that was the best chance to stop the strokes from happening. He said his sister was a hero who was at his mother's side. As they went to Toronto, his mother was having the surgery and Regal's request came in at the same time. Khan had to think about it. Toronto's shows were successful. His mother's surgery was successful.

Tony was spending nights with his mom while the rest of his family stayed with her during the day. He was there and his mom was asleep and he received a message from Regal asking if they could talk. They had a "long, good talk and it was very positive." He said he felt Regal had good intentions for wanting to go back and be with his son. Khan said that it made a lot of sense to him and in that moment, as he was sitting at the hospital with his mother, he didn't want to prevent any parent and son from being together and working together. He had to think about how to make it happen, but also family and how they could accomodate him. Khan said he worked on changes and it's a complete overhaul, just as they made changes going into Forbidden Door and coming out of All Out.

Tony had a long, 90 minute conversation with Regal after Jacksonville and told him his company would make a sacrifice to make the best situation for Regal's family. He said Regal is with them through the end of the year. He said his mother is doing well and he's thankful to his father and his sister for all they did. He said he wishes Regal the best. He enjoyed Regal's time here and it was hard to see him go but he's not gone yet.

On Ring of Honor returning to weekly TV, Khan said he has two amazing companies. AEW comes first but he doesn't want ROH to take a back seat. He also doesn't want ROH to be the focus of AEW TV and after this week, he will be limiting how much ROH is on AEW TV. He said he'll punt the question about ROH TV to after Final Battle.

Khan was asked about the Rampage ratings dropping and how he will address. He's looking to put strong matches on Rampage and with the depth of the roster, it's a time for Khan to put all hands on deck on Friday. He always tries to listen to the feedback to the fans.

Khan was asked about the potential of AEW running Latin America in the future. Khan said they've upped their international presence and TV this year. There are great markets he'd love to run. On the potential of ROH running internationally, Khan pointed out that ROH has run internationally in the past and that he once attended a ROH show in London. He is open to international events for both brands.

On Athena, Khan said her work lately has been compelling and feels she's doing her best work ever right now. He talked up the match with Mercedes Martinez this Saturday.

On Juice Robinson vs. Samoa Joe, Khan talked about Robinson as a potential great TV Champ for ROH.

On whether Maria Kanellis will be used as a backstage asset, Khan said there has been discussions about that.

On Jade Cargill, Khan said she's her own great star. He has a lot of excitement for her and she'll be in action tonight in a trios match. He praised her stage presence as someone that people gravitate towards and make them interested in wrestling.

On Shane Taylor, Khan declined to comment on his contractual status. He said that he's been trying to build a new, exciting version of ROH and that includes bringing in those who were successful in the past as well as internationally. He said Taylor's match this Saturday should be an interesting family affair.

On ROH creative, Khan said there is a lot of crossover with people who work on each company. He's the head of creative for both. There are some who do coaching in ROH that don't in AEW and vice versa but there's crossover.

On FTR, Khan said that he has a great appreciation for them. Through no fault of their own, they have been involved in shuffling of plans due to talents being injured and not being around. He said CM Punk's injury led to months of stories changing, as an example. He said that tonight is a big night for them. He said that it's been a really hard year for him and they've been really supportive. They had challenges in their own lives and are so passionate, they want to wrestle and wrestle hard every week on TV. With them being all over the world, there have been times he's had plans for them that had to change. He said that starting tonight there will be a lot of Christmas spirit on AEW programming. What they have done this year is remarkable, winning belts in three promotions while also having great matches in AEW and still wanting to do more. Khan said that he feels he's got a new lease of life with everything that has gone on and he's looking forward to tonight and going forward. He said tonight is an important night for AEW with The Acclaimed vs. FTR.

On where FTR's match on the PPV is, Khan said that we have to wait and see where FTR ends up after tonight's Dynamite.

On whether they will add more AEW PPVs next year, Khan said it's a good question but nothing is locked in yet. He doesn't want to over-saturate the market. It could be 5 is the right number.

Khan said ROH has already been beyond all projections. The previous shows have doubled projections.

After Final Battle, he can talk more about the future of ROH. He feels strong about the present and future of AEW.
 
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#25 ·
Man how funny is it that the IWC had been spending so much energy arguing about so many things in regards to Regal, FTR, ROH, booking changes, etc. and not have the full story.

What a waste of time. This puts everything into far greater perspective. It was so obvious that FTR, MJF, and Wardlow (most likely) had all of their plans changed post media scrum.

Should TK pivot more often when shit fits the fan? Of course. But without first hand details on what exactly is going on (in AND out of the ring) there really is no point in debating or participating in all the shit talk.

Thanks for the write-up though 3venflow.
 
#28 ·
Man how funny is it that the IWC had been spending so much energy arguing about so many things in regards to Regal, FTR, ROH, booking changes, etc. and not have the full story.

What a waste of time. This puts everything into far greater perspective. It was so obvious that FTR, MJF, and Wardlow (most likely) had all of their plans changed post media scrum.

Should TK pivot more often when shit fits the fan? Of course. But without first hand details on what exactly is going on (in AND out of the ring) there really is no point in debating or participating in all the shit talk.

Thanks for the write-up though 3venflow.
My focus was always the issue with the promotions direction, he's still in denial about it to the public.
 
#19 ·
It's pretty poor from WWE to be honest, Regal is under contract with AEW and was clearly told he'd be welcomed back if he could get out of the contract - this is tampering. If you listen to Tony he says many times "I believe Lord Regal did this in good faith" - the 90 minute sitdown they had would indicate Tony knows this isn't the case but decided to not pick up the option for PR reasons rather than sympathy for the story Regal sold him. Now that Tony has opened this box I would expect other talent to try it also - no doubt Andrade, Malakai, Cole, Swerve, Lee etc etc have been given a "heads up" that offers are on the table for them to return under HHH if they can get out of their AEW contracts.
 
#73 · (Edited)
LMAO @ Tony getting praised for "honorably" agreeing not to renew Willy Reegs contract under the 1 tiny, small, insignificant little condition he can't appear as an onscreen character in WWE for a whole year. Totally not petty vindictive behavior on Saint Anthony's part, nope.

It's not like Tony didn't benefit when former WWE stars who were clearly AEW bound like Andrade, Dustin Rhodes and Toni Storm were given their release with no catch that they can't appear onscreen for AEW for a year.

Imagine if Cody was a super Vince mark and requested his release to go back to AEW, Tony really wanted him back and Triple H granted. However Haitch says the Roller Coadster cannot be a tv character in the Dub for a year. Methinks there'd be nonstop bitching here and accusations of pettiness. But Tony does it abd gee whiz isn't he such a swell guy?
 
#74 ·
LMAO @ Tony getting praised for "honorably" agreeing not to renew Willy Reegs contract under the 1 tiny, small, insignificant little condition he can't appear as an onscreen character in WWE for a whole year. Totally not petty vindictive behavior on Saint Anthony's part, nobody. It's not like Tony didn't benefit when former WWE stars who were clearly AEW bound like Andrade, Dustin Rhodes and Toni Storm were given their release with no catch that they can't appear onscreen for AEE.

Imagine if Cody was a super Vince mark and requested his release to go back to AEW, Tony really wanted him back and Triple H granted. However Haitch says the Roller Coadster cannot be a tv character in the Dub for a year. Methinks there'd be nonstop batching here and accusations of pettiness. But Tony does it abd gee whiz isn't he such a swell guy?
What about Tony’s statement goes against your point? Does being on tv hinder him from being able to spend time with his child? This is Tony’s way of protecting himself against guys just wanting to leave for no reason and not honoring their contracts.

“You want to spend time with your son, then you can go but you will not play on my heartstrings while I’m vulnerable and dealing with my sick mother just to run back to Hunter.”

If he just wants to be with his son…Tony gave him that option.
 
#21 ·
I'm happy to hear TK clarify Regal didn't strongarm his way out of a long term contract as some of the gossip suggested. It sounds like an amicable and honourable parting of the way, as all these things should be in an ideal world.

It's crazy Regal got fired from WWE in the first place.

But anyway, I've enjoyed his stint in AEW - as have the Blackpool tourist board.
 
#40 ·
So when the news of Regal leaving AEW started leaking there was also a report that he was unhappy in AEW, didn't call it professional, etc. A LOT of people on here were quick to jump on that with "See, AEW is a bad workplace!!!". Those same people probably wont admit that they were wrong now that the actual truth has come out that Regal simply just wants to go back to working with his son in WWE. Stop rushing to judgement, y'all.

Had no clue about Tony Khans Mothers health issues. So Tony has had even more on his plate. Thoughts are with his mother and their family.
 
#55 ·
From what we know Regal had a one year contract with a one year option from AEW to make it two years. Regal is almost finished the first year and asked if TK would forego the option year so Regal could go back to work with his son in NXT or maybe eventually WWE.

If the terms stipulate that Regal can only work behind the camera for a stated measurement of time it seems pretty fair for everyone.

When Ric Flair left WCW for the WWF in 1990 they had an agreement for a similar situation. Whenever Flair wanted to leave he had a handshake with Vince that would allow Flair to do just that. Didn’t Flair also have to stay out of the ring and play a non-wrestling role for a certain length of time as well? If that is also the agreement AEW has with Regal it seems more than fair. Regal doesn’t want to wrestle so his stipulation could be that he can’t appear in front of the camera for the first year back in the time that he would have still been in AEW.

As far as ROH is concerned I sure hope something positive is announced at Saturday’s Final Battle for ROH. The constant complaining about ROH in AEW has been painful to see and hear every day that ROH appears as part of AEW programming.

There are seven titles in AEW. There are six titles in ROH.

With the 24/7 Title just now becoming obsolete WWE and NXT combined have fifteen titles. While AEW has also used titles from AAA, NJPW and a few women’s titles from Japan have popped up from time to time. If fans can’t keep track in AEW they probably have issues with that other promotion as well.

With the proper separation of ROH and AEW seemingly imminent in some form the complaints should stop about having too many titles on AEW shows.
 
#60 ·
If the terms stipulate that Regal can only work behind the camera for a stated measurement of time it seems pretty fair for everyone.
Only way those terms make even a slight bit of sense is if AEW are paying Regal his full contract while he works behind the scenes..

AEW cannot enforce any rules on any performer if no longer under contract. It's utterly ridiculous to even suggest a clause like that.

Vince was called Satan for the 90 day no compete where performers got FULL PAY. Imagine if Vince said to Toni Storm or Cesaro or Black or Revival or Jeff Hardy etc etc 'OK I will release you, I won't pay you one penny and you cannot appear on TV for one year'
 
#8 ·
Fingers crossed nearly to the point of snapping that he doesn't bring in Delirious to book ROH. Do think he needs to delegate it to someone else if it's going to be a thing though.

I dunno why I'm still so invested in the zombie shell of ROH. I've stuck with it this long! I guess.
 
#38 ·
Fingers crossed nearly to the point of snapping that he doesn't bring in Delirious to book ROH. Do think he needs to delegate it to someone else if it's going to be a thing though.

I dunno why I'm still so invested in the zombie shell of ROH. I've stuck with it this long! I guess.
TK: “I listen to the fans and the fans have spoken — they do not want Delirious in charge of ROH booking and they don’t want me. So by popular demand I am bringing in Bully Ray to be head of creative of ROH. You’re welcome.”
 
#32 ·
And? Tony didn’t say he was doing it to help Hunter’s product. He said he didn’t want to come between a parent and child getting to spend time together, because he was dealing with facing his mother’s mortality square in the face.

TK is a shit booker, but he could have easily told Regal to sit the fuck down, honor the contract, and shut up.

He let the guy go coach his son and spend time with him.
 
#42 ·
Tony talked about his mom because it was at the mayo clinic where his Mom was (or outside of it, on a bench) where Regal and TK had a conversation that led to Regal telling TK that he wanted to go back to WWE to work with his son. Due to TK being there at that Clinic for his mom he didn't want to keep Regal from working with his son. So it all really tied together.
 
#56 ·
I'm not a devout or even regular AEW follower, but i do check their youtube alot, and it seems like Regal's contributions were special; he glued and enhanced many matches and segments; espeically during that tough time where a lot of the best guys had to leave or were injured. lots of good tv moments. It's interesting folks like Athena and Hogan were so big in the indies, but did nothing in AEW and WWE. An Athena/Hayter PPV match would be amazing (give the main 4 top female stars a break and allow others to get shine who can go instead of showcasing these other female wrestlers who just aren't special right now.

FTR seem content, but from what I'm reading around the net; they'll end their career in WWE. It's good they are not rocky any boats.
 
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